Letters

Ditching Pornotopia

Dear Alibi,

[RE: Letters, “Perverting the Porn Supply,” Dec.6-12] Excellent commentary, Ed. My boyfriend and I were planning to attend Pornotopia to see John Holmes in 3-D, but eventually decided not to, largely for the reasons Ed detailed. Two main reasons, actually.

First, the prior night at the Sidewinders gay bar we watched a hipster male-female couple stroll into the Gearwerks sex toy shop. Heterosexuals with a day pass ... everybody hates a tourist. They were blatantly sightseeing, standing just far enough away from everything to make it clear they had no real interest beyond enhancing their "alternative" aura. My boyfriend commented, "You know, the audience at the Guild is going to be full of them."

Second, I moved to Albuquerque from Boston and I'm familiar with the women who own Self Serve from the store [they worked at], Grand Opening, with its distinctly male-negative vibe. I visited Self Serve just once when they first opened and felt the same chill. Both shops could best be described as clean, well-lighted places for Wellesley grads to do research for the revised Our Bodies, Ourselves. It's great that there's an alternative to The Castle for those who prefer their sexiness clean and lavender scented. But I was pretty sure Pornotopia would be a dissertation about sex rather than actually being sex.

So my boyfriend and I had sex at home instead. To paraphrase Woody Allen, sex is only dirty when it's done right.

ScramcatComment on alibi.com

Viet-wiches

Dear Alibi,

[RE: Restaurant Review, “Lee's Bakery,” Dec. 6-12] The Vietnamese sandwich is a beautiful fusion of Vietnam and France. Lee's makes the best one in Albuquerque. A crusty, fresh baguette filled with all those flavors unique to the Vietnamese sandwich. The grilled pork is my favorite. And the price is a steal. So not only does Lee's make the best Vietnamese sandwich in Albuquerque, it is also the best bargain. What could be better? Also, Lee's croissants are big and buttery ... and did I say a bargain? Since it is a Vietnamese bakery, there are a whole bunch of things I suspect you won't find anywhere else in town. This place is a find!

LalbaComment on alibi.com

Raw Life with the Don

Dear Alibi,

If I had my life to live over knowing what I know now at 62, I would aim to do many things differently.

My parents ran a cattle and hog business for many years in Illinois where I grew up. For years, I worked part-time in that business—driving trucks, hauling cattle and hogs and doing office work. I confess humbly that I participated in much cruelty to animals. I wish I had never worked in the cattle and hog business. I wish I had never eaten meat and dairy.

Unless the cows, pigs and chickens are raised organically, their bodies concentrate the poison pesticides from their feed into their meat, milk and eggs. Ninety-five percent of the poison pesticides Americans eat comes from the meat and dairy they consume. Radiation from many sources concentrate in all meat and dairy. Radiation and poison pesticides cause cancer, birth defects and weak immune systems. Fish from polluted rivers, lakes and oceans are often the most chemically concentrated meat of all.

Half of the U.S.'s antibiotics are fed to cows, pigs and chickens in their feed. Synthetic hormones are fed to many animals to make them grow faster. Their meat and dairy contain traces of those antibiotics and growth hormones. Gradually, the bad germs grow stronger in people who eat that meat and dairy while the intestines' good germs, necessary for digesting and absorbing nutrients from food, are killed off.

We do not need to drink milk to get enough calcium for our bones. Where do the cows get the calcium in their milk? Cows eat green plants! We can get all the protein, calcium and other minerals we need by eating only raw plant foods—leafy greens, soaked grain, sunflower seeds, flaxseed and fruit. Raising cows, pigs and chickens pollutes more water in the U.S. than any other cause of water pollution. The shit from cows, pigs and chickens, the poison pesticides and chemical fertilizers for their feed wash into the rivers, lakes and oceans and seep into the underground water.

Most of the water used in the U.S. goes for raising animals so Americans can eat meat and dairy. Most of U.S. grain is fed to animals—not directly to people. Far more people can be fed from the same amount of farmland by growing grain, seeds, nuts, vegetables and fruit for people to eat than by growing crops to feed to cows, pigs and chickens and then people eating those animals.

Factory farms are cruel concentration camps for animals. Chickens' beaks are burned off, male cattle and pigs' testicles are cut off, cattle are dehorned and branded--all done with no painkillers. Baby pigs and calves are taken away from their mothers. Chickens are crowded so close together, they can hardly move. Animals spend their lives terrified and suffering in concrete stalls and metal cages. The purpose of factory farms is to produce the most meat, milk and eggs using the least space, time and money. The animals are starved for sunshine, fresh air, freedom to move around in nature and their normal lives. Often the cows, pigs and chickens are hauled long distances in trucks with no food and no water in severe heat or in bitter cold—taken to slaughterhouses to be killed. Millions of animals every year are skinned and cut up while they are still alive and conscious. Ten billion animals are raised and killed for food every year in the U.S.

I stopped eating most meat and junk food in the '70s, most dairy in the '80s and cooked food Dec. 12, 1998. Now I eat only raw plant foods—nature's best foods for us to eat.

Don SchraderAlbuquerque

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